cannabisnews.com: Drug Court Holds First Graduation! 





Drug Court Holds First Graduation! 
Posted by FoM on February 06, 1999 at 12:02:04 PT

In the last seven years, by his own account, Michael Blackmur has taken 150 "hits" of LSD, smoked marijuana regularly, guzzled beer by the 40-ounce can and sampled powder cocaine, crack cocaine, hallucinogenic mushrooms and peyote.
He is 16.Yesterday, Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge John Gallagher pronounced Michael a drug-free young man and awarded him a plaque to celebrate Michael's successful battle with drug addiction.Michael, of Parma, thus became the first graduate of Juvenile Court's teen Drug Court, an experiment begun last May to fight teen drug use."Congratulations, Michael, you've worked very hard. I'm very proud of you," Gallagher said. "You've really turned yourself around."At this time last year, Michael was collecting felony charges instead of accolades. By July, he faced a battery of delinquency counts: breaking and entering, tampering with a car wash coin box, underage drinking and possession of drugs, alcohol and criminal tools.He said he was using LSD every other day, had been smoking marijuana since he was 10 and began drinking at age 12. He originally paid for his drugs with his weekly $15 lunch allowance and later used wages from a part-time job.For Juvenile Court officials, Michael seemed the ideal candidate for the new Drug Court because he did not have a long or violent criminal history.In the Drug Court, children must appear before Gallagher every week or two, submit to unannounced urine tests weekly and regularly attend treatment programs for their addictions. The payoff for children who complete the program is to have charges against them dismissed.Yesterday was Michael's payoff. He walked out of the courtroom clear of drugs as well as delinquency counts that could have put him into a state institution for 18 months."I feel so much better now that I'm not doing drugs and drinking," he said. "It was like your worst hangover, never stopping and never caring about anything. Now I care. I'm more polite to people."The Drug Court remains an experiment. It handles no more than 18 children at a time, and of the 24 children to enter it since last May, six have been ejected, most for using drugs or alcohol. Gallagher said the teens who remain show progress."When they first come in, they wear this mask of addiction," he said. "You can't see who these kids are. As they go through it, the mask just melts away."Ken Lusnia, who yesterday closed out 11 years as a Juvenile Court prosecutor, said the best time to begin reforming a teen addict is upon arrest. That is when the youth feels his world is collapsing, so court officials are trying to identify candidates more quickly. Now, most are referred to the program by other judges.Lusnia, who on Monday becomes director of court services, said he will seek a grant to expand the Drug Court.Until then, Gallagher will continue working with a limited number of children, hoping they have Michael's success. Michael said he plans to enlist in the Navy.Gallagher reminded Michael yesterday that the battle with drugs never ends."The journey's just begun," he said. "Your keystone is your sobriety. . . . If that keystone is removed, your life will collapse."
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